James Kirkup is The Telegraph's Executive Editor (Politics). He was previously the Telegraph's Political Editor and has worked at Westminster since 2001.

David Cameron the 'big commander': more details of PM's Afghan security scare

It was David Cameron's first trip to Afghanistan since taking office (Photo: PA)

Some new details about David Cameron's security scare in Afghanistan have been revealed by… David Cameron. You may recall that Mr Cameron was last week forced to abandon a visit to a British patrol base in Helmand after military intelligence suggested a plan to try to shoot down his helicopter.

After the diversion, Mr Cameron recorded a video message to the men of the Duke of Lancaster's regiment he was unable to visit at the Shahzad patrol base. In the message, the PM said that "chatter" among Taliban insurgents had revealed they were planned to target "the big commander" of British forces near the base. Smiling, he added: "I've never been called a big commander before".

Also aboard Mr Cameron's Chinook on Thursday were Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, and Gulab Mangal, governor of Helmand province.

Some people have played down last week's incident as routine, but the fact that the insurgents had relatively detailed advance knowledge of a VIP visit to a specific location is a source of genuine concern to security-minded folk.

For a while, things appeared even more serious. Initially, Mr Cameron's close protection team were told that an insurgent had been seen in the Shahzad area with a rocket-propelled grenade shortly before Mr Cameron was due to arrive. That report was withdrawn fairly quickly, but not before it set some nerves jangling.